The present invention relates generally to the field of weight loss devices and more particular to the field of electrical devices employed in the treatment of seriously overweight human beings.
The treatment of obesity has taken many different forms. Among these is the use of prescription or non-prescription drugs or other ingestible preparations designed to suppress the appetite or to induce satiety. Another type of treatment comprises dietary menus selected to reduce caloric intake, often in combination with a regimen of exercise. In advance or extreme cases, the treatment of obesity has included more radical techniques such as stapling or re-sectioning of the stomach or wiring the jaws shut.
In general, these and other prior techniques for treating obesity have intended to produce only a temporary effect. After the initial weight loss and typical plateauing of further loss, the individual usually becomes discouraged and reverts to previous behavior. The more radical techniques employed for treating extreme cases are sufficiently drastic to warrant consideration of methods which are less intrusive and more easily tolerated by the patient.
A number of electrical devices and processes are known in the art for attempting to control an individual""s food intake and/or various aspects of the digestive process in an effort to treat eating or digestive disorders. Wernicke et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,104, discloses a method of detecting eating disorders and treating them by electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve, and Cigaina, U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,872, discloses a process and device for treating obesity and syndromes related to motor disorders of the stomach by altering the natural gastric motility of a patient by electrical stimulation to prevent emptying or to slow down food transit. Terry, Jr. et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,730, discloses an apparatus and method of treating motility disorders by selectively stimulating a patient""s vagus nerve to modulate electrical activity of the nerve and to thereby cause a selective release or suppression of excitatory or inhibitory transmitters One embodiment employs the manual or automatic activation of an implanted device for selective modulation. However, none of the aforementioned devices is totally satisfactory for effective treatment of eating disorders.
The present invention is directed to an electrical system to directly stimulate the stomach wall to create a sensation of satiety since normally distended xe2x80x9cfull stomachxe2x80x9d stretch receptors of the stomach wall send the message of being full or satiated. More particularly, the present invention relies upon the use of implanted leads, similar to heart pacemaker leads, to directly stimulate the stretch receptors generally found in the wall of the upper portion, or fundus, of the stomach. The electrical stimulator leads (electrodes) are generally implanted using open or laparoscopic techniques and/or by endoscopic techniques with local anesthesia, thus making the effective utilization of the device of the present invention far easier and less burdensome to the patient than with the extensive major surgical procedures required using other known techniques.
A method for controlling the body weight of seriously overweight individuals which utilizes the system taught is also disclosed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel electrical system for use in controlling the body weight of seriously overweight human beings.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an electrical system for use in controlling the body weight of seriously overweight human beings which avoids the necessity of major surgical operations to make use of the system.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an electrical system for use in controlling the body weight of seriously overweight human beings which may be easily deployed using laparoscopic or endoscopic techniques.
It is a yet further object of the present invention to provide an effective methodology for effecting the reduction in body weight of a seriously overweight individual using the electrical system taught here, which will be much less burdensome on the patient.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent to one skilled in the art from the following more detailed disclosure of the invention.